Chapter 20: Let You Fly, Just Let You Fly!

Page 1/3

Leaving Benshan Media, Xiao Songjia, who was planning to buy a plane ticket back to the metropolis, suddenly stopped in her tracks. She had just received a message from an unknown sender on her phone.

“I’m Xu Ming. Since you’re new here and probably have nowhere to go after your audition, how about I, your host, keep you company?”

A clichéd pickup line.

Xiao Songjia’s mind flashed to Xu Ming’s face as she replied, “Where did you get my number?”

“It was in the information you left. Wait for me at the café by the traffic light; I’ll come by tonight.”

“Who said you could?”

Xiao Songjia’s fingers tapped harshly on the keyboard, then she paused and turned toward the café he mentioned.

In the audition room, Xu Ming put away his phone. Although he didn’t understand women well, he knew that as long as a woman didn’t refuse outright, it meant she agreed. If she truly hadn’t agreed, then as he had said at the start, he really didn’t understand women.

“Thank you for your hard work. Please wait for further notice; we will inform you of the results,” the assistant director said mechanically. The actress left the room looking disappointed.

Clearly, the crew’s attitude could be roughly gauged halfway through the audition.

“Are there more after this?” Xu Ming asked.

“About five,” the assistant director replied.

“Okay, you handle them. I have some other matters to attend to. The crew will follow Director Teng’s arrangements,” Xu Ming said, then paused before adding, “Director Teng, I won’t be attending tonight’s dinner. The travel has worn me out. I’ll personally pour you a drink and make up for it another day.”

“No problem. You focus on your work,” Teng Huatao responded, unsure of Xu Ming’s intentions but agreeing on the surface.

Exiting the audition room, Xu Ming headed toward the elevator, only to run into Guan Tingna, who looked at him with a lingering resentment.

“Well, well, Mr. Big Star Xu, your status is so high now that we can’t even reach you anymore. From now on, do we have to avoid you at the company?” she teased.

“Not at all. I had to be impartial in the audition room just now. Sister Na, your acting skills are definitely up to par, but you don’t fit the character’s image. The audience would fall for your radiant motherly aura and forget the plot immediately,” Xu Ming said, rubbing his nose and casually comforting her.

If it had been any other actress, he would have snapped back at such sarcasm long ago.

But not her — because he had actually snapped at her before...

And she was the first woman he couldn’t fully control before and after his rebirth.

“Get lost! Done with the audition and rushing off like this? You haven’t arranged a date with some little vixen, have you?” Guan Tingna asked suspiciously.

“What are you saying? Do you think I have time for that now? A bunch of things are waiting for me. Our media company is about to cooperate with Liaotai for a comedy competition show, and my mentor asked me to coordinate with them,” Xu Ming replied, marveling silently at how accurate women’s intuition could be.

Page 2/3

“That’s true. Been busy lately?” Guan Tingna asked, hesitating to continue.

Xu Ming caught her meaning and, calculating his recent schedule, said, “After the big event, you should make me some old turtle soup.”

“You’re so young, aren’t you worried about overdosing on tonics?” Guan Tingna glanced at him, a faint fragrance trailing as she left satisfied.

Xu Ming sniffed the perfume lingering near his nose and wished he could slap himself.

Damn, how did he lose control?

He always lived by the principle of passing through a sea of flowers without touching a leaf—one or two, but never more than that.

Yet, he was soft-hearted.

Truly a male bodhisattva, responding firmly to female devotees.

...

At the café, Xiao Songjia stirred her coffee, wondering if she was being played.

It was just a chance encounter; surely he wouldn’t mess with her over something so trivial?

Suddenly, a shadow blocked the light in front of her.

“Fellow Northeasterner, tears in both eyes, sharing the same homeland of the Three Northeast Provinces—meeting is fate, sister,” Xu Ming said with a smile.

“Your joke’s really cold,” Xiao Songjia said, laughing to herself. This was the Northeast; everywhere she looked was a fellow native, yet this guy spoke as if they were in a foreign land.

“Cold doesn’t matter. If it makes you laugh, it’s a good joke,” Xu Ming said, sitting down uninvited. “You rushed here for the audition and probably haven’t eaten. Shall we find somewhere to have a drink together?”

“Trying to hit on me? Are we that familiar?” Xiao Songjia glanced at him sideways, smiling lightly.

“Cheap talk! How could it be hitting on you? I see it as appreciation. Besides, in this world of wandering souls, why must we have met before to be friends?” Xu Ming raised an eyebrow.

“I’m almost thirty—actually, I’ll be thirty next year,” Xiao Songjia said, sizing up the small man before her. “Did no one tell you women at this age are to be avoided?”

“Only twenty-nine, just the most wonderful time for a woman. She’s shed her awkwardness but isn’t yet mature to the extreme. Especially for an actress, this is the golden era,” Xu Ming shrugged, a smile playing on his lips. “Besides, don’t you think the leads should spend more time together to build chemistry?”

“We just finished the audition. I heard the company’s main pick isn’t me. Why do you think I’d be the female lead?” Xiao Songjia asked.

“Because I’m the male lead. Of course, I know who my female lead is,” Xu Ming said, extending his hand. “Your Highness, shall we depart?”

Page 3/3

“Lead Xu, let’s go,” Xiao Songjia placed her hand in his.

“Cheers~”

They changed to a restaurant.

Without speaking, they sipped glass after glass of red wine.

Soft violin music drifted around them.

During the dance time, under dim lighting, their hearts were separated by only two layers of fabric.

There was friction, subtle and electric.

Xiao Songjia’s face was flushed, whether from wine or something else she couldn’t tell. She looked at Xu Ming and asked, “Do you think I’ll become famous?”

“Once you finish filming 'Love Is Not Blind,' you will,” Xu Ming said, his attention barely on the conversation.

“I think I’ve had enough. I should head back—I have a flight back to the metropolis tonight,” Xiao Songjia said.

Finally, Xu Ming allowed himself to focus on her eyes.

After eating and drinking well, and you say you want to go home?

Then you might as well have stayed home from the start.

“Ahem, fine. I happen to have the script and creative notes for 'Love Is Not Blind' at the hotel. You can take them back to study,” Xu Ming readily agreed.

“Just the materials?” Xiao Songjia looked at him playfully.

“Yes, just the materials,” Xu Ming said sincerely.

...

At the hotel.

The dim room was scattered with clothes.

“You said, uh, just the materials?”

“Theory alone isn’t enough; it needs to be paired with practice.”

Xu Ming wiped sweat from his brow and reached for the lamp’s cord.

A pale arm stretched out, grabbing his hand.

“Don’t, don’t turn on the light.”

“I want to look at my leading lady and fully immerse myself in the role.”

“Ugh!”

“You said you were flying back. I’ll let you go, I’ll let you go!”

Xu Ming fell silent and simply pressed on relentlessly.